Dozens of MH17 Passenger Remains Still Missing 2:08

Of the 298 people on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, remains of some 100 passengers are still missing. The Ukrainian government has criticized lack of full access to the site in an area controlled by pro-Russian rebels. The WSJ’s Ramy Inocencio reports.

July 20th 2014

3 years ago

/display/newscorpaustralia.com/Web/NewsNetwork/Network News/World/

AS Gary Slok and his mother settled into their seats on flight MH17, there was just enough time to take and upload a selfie before take off.

That picture was to be their last.

“Gary and his mum Petra were on their way to Malaysia to have the dream holiday of their life. Sadly they never got the chance to fulfil that dream,” a club spokesman from Gary’s team said.

“But his story and his last picture tell you how dreams of many people with wonderful lives ahead of them have been wrecked.”

So happy: Gary Slok and his mother Petra uploaded this selfie on board Flight MH17 just before the aircraft took off.Source:Supplied

Another Australian victim of MH17 has been identified as Sydney preschool teacher Gabriele Lauschet, Fairfax reports.

The newspaper said the “much loved, caring” teacher, who has an adult son called Tim, had taught at the German International School at Terrey Hills since 2000.

The 47-year-old Ms Lauschet had only recently become engaged to fellow school staff member Andreas Schaaf.

Gabriele Lauschet (right) in an undated picture.Source:Facebook

1:05pm

Acting Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek has met with AIDS 2014 organisers in Melbourne to learn more about those who were lost in this "terrible tragedy”.

“This has gone on too long already,” she said of Russian activists keeping the crash site hostage.

12:30pm

Heartbreaking photos from the crash scene ... and beyond.

A woman leaves the site in tears. Pic Ella PellegriniSource:News Corp Australia

Locals attend a special mass in Saint Vitus Church in memory of the victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 20, 2014 in Hilversum, Netherlands. Three families from Hilversum were killed in the crash. Picture: Christopher Furlong.Source:Getty Images

Flowers lie on part of the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Grabovo, Ukraine. Picture: Rob StothardSource:Getty Images

12:20pm

Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to co-operate with outraged world leaders seeking access to the site of downed flight MH17, after Washington squarely pointed the finger of blame at Moscow for the crash.

The under-fire Russian leader appeared to seek to temper international fury after US Secretary of State John Kerry said the missile system used to shoot down the Malaysia Airlines jet was “transferred from Russia in the hands of separatists”.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has reached out to the families of MH17 victims. Mr Abbott touched on a number of points during a press conference this morning.

■ “It's true they have been given somewhat better access today but as anyone who has been watching the footage would know this is still an absolutely shambolic situation. It does look more like a garden clean up than a forensic investigation.”

■ “We want to retrieve the bodies, we want to investigate the site and we want to punish the guilty, that’s what we want to do. It’s absolutely imperative that we bring them home, in order to bring them home we have to get them out.”

■ “I want everyone to know that their Prime Minister is available to them at a time like that.”

■ “The mood of the leaders that I spoke to is firmer and sterner now than it was in the 24 hours immediately subsequent to the downing of this aircraft.”

■ On Putin: “I’m not going into details, I don’t think it is fair to go into great detail as to the nature of this conversation, but to President Putin’s credit he did say all the right things. What he did say was fine; the challenge now is to hold the President to his word, that’s my intention.

■ “The train where the bodies seem to be held has been prevented to leave by the Russian-backed rebels and again, this is completely unacceptable.”

11:25am

Foreign minister Julie Bishop said an urgent vote could take place as early as Monday in the U.N. Security Council on a resolution demanding international access to the crash site. Ms Bishop told reporters in Washington on Sunday she expects all 15 council members to fully support Australia’s proposal.

The resolution calls for pro-Russia separatists to allow international access to the crash site of the passenger jet and asks for the full co-operation of all countries in the region, including Russia.

Russia has the power to veto the resolution as a permanent council member.

U.N. diplomats have tweeted that the council will vote Monday afternoon on the proposal co-sponsored by Australia, France and Lithuania.

“I would expect every country to give it their full support,” Bishop said.

11:20am

#BREAKING: The ABC has learned the Government is actively considering designating the #MH17 disaster as a terrorist act

The father of three Australian children killed on board MH17 has taken indefinite leave from his job as head of Buxton Resources.

A brief statement from the Perth-based mining company on Monday said Anthony Maslin was taking personal leave from his job as managing director.

Mr Maslin and his wife Rin returned to Perth at the weekend from Amsterdam, where they had farewelled their three children on the ill-fated flight last Thursday.

The children, Mo, 12, Evie, 10 and Otis, eight, boarded MH17 with their grandfather Nick Norris so they could return to Australia from their European holiday in time to start school this week.

Their devastated parents flew home on Saturday and attended a public tribute for their children at Mo’s junior football club on Sunday.

The three children and their grandfather were among 298 people who died when MH17 was shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine.

Anthony Maslin (centre red coat, hat) grieves with friends from their eldest son Mo's football club yesterday, after all 3 of his children died on board the Malaysian flight MH17.Source:News Corp Australia

11:10am

10:35am

Just when you thought the looting of MH17 victims' personal effects were bad enough, there are now reports that credit and debit cards have been stolen.

The Dutch Banking Association is taking “preventive measures” to ensure the stolen cards will not be used for personal gain, but in case they are, victims' families will be compensated, it claims.

Ukrainian sources have claimed that this video shows the missile launcher used to shoot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

The video, taken on a dashboard camera on Saturday, shows a military truck driving for two kilometres near the Russia-Ukraine boarder, The Mirror reports.

One online version of the video reads: “For two kilometres, a blogger from Russia has been driving behind covered BUK 1M which, according to his words, had been driving from the Ukrainian border. His opinion it that is exactly that BUK that made the shot.”

10:10am

This is the final Facebook post of Ariza Ghazalee, whose picture of 15 pieces of luggage was to signal a new life with her family in Malaysia.

Questions still remain over the whereabouts of the victims’ bodies after this scene played out yesterday. There are grave fears the bodies have been tampered with and that the crash site of MH17 — dubbed the world’s biggest crime scene — has been contaminated

“It’s an utter outrage that the site has been contaminated, that bodies have been removed and that they’ve not been handed over to independent authorities,” Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told reporters in New York, where she is pushing the United Nations Security Council to set up an urgent international investigation into the incident.

Tony Abbott says Russia must show genuine remorse and regret over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight 17, giving his strongest hint that President Vladimir Putin could be barred from this year’s G20 summit.

Mr Nayda’s claim comes as the United States confirmed that Russia supplied sophisticated missile launchers to separatists in eastern Ukraine and that attempts were made to move them back across the Russian border after the Malaysia Airlines jet was shot down.

8:25am

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has led the world with a strong rebuke of Russia in the wake of the MH17 disaster.

“My fear is that Russia will say the right thing, but that on the ground interference with the site, interference with investigators, interference with the dignified treatment of bodies will continue,” he told the ABC yesterday.

Mr Abbott demanded that the bodies of those killed when the flight crashed be “treated with respect”.

“We owe it to the families — all the families — to do everything in our power to respect the bodies, to find the truth and to ensure that justice is done,” Mr Abbott later told Channel Nine.

Bishop: We know that the crash site has been contaminated, that bodies have been taken from the site, evidence of looting (@NinaBStevens)

Pro-Russian separatists, who control swathes of east Ukraine, had removed the flight recorders from the MH17 wreckage after the plane was shot down.

Rebel leader Alexander Borodai initially denied having the vital equipment but has now confirmed his movement does have them, revealing the black boxes would be handed over to the International Civil Aviation Organization.

AP: Ukrainian separatist leader says the black boxes from #MH17 will be given to International Aviation Authority

British broadcaster Sky News has apologised after one of its presenters searched through luggage at the crash site of downed flight MH17 live on air.

In a news broadcast on Sunday, presenter Colin Brazier was shown searching through personal belongings in an opened suitcase at the site, picking up a set of keys before saying: “We shouldn’t really be doing this.”

The footage was greeted with anger on social media, including calls for Brazier to be sacked, reports AFP.

“Today while presenting from the site of the MH17 air crash Colin Brazier reflected on the human tragedy of the event and showed audiences the content of one of the victims’ bags,” a Sky News spokesman said.

“Colin immediately recognised that this was inappropriate and said so on air. Both Colin and Sky News apologise profusely for any offence caused.”